For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be no plowing and no harvest.
Parallel translations
- KJV For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
- BSB For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting.
- NKJV For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
- NASB For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
- NLT This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joseph explains that two years of famine have passed with five more to come. The ongoing crisis underscores why their relocation is urgent.
Overview
Joseph informs his brothers that the famine is only partway through its seven-year course. The continuing scarcity makes clear the family's need for refuge in Egypt. His foreknowledge, granted by God through Pharaoh's dreams, shows the providence that positioned him to preserve them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 47:23Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
- Gen 41:56The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
- Gen 41:54The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
- Gen 41:29–31Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt.
- Exod 34:21“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
- Gen 47:18When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.
- Deut 21:4The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.
- 1 Sam 8:12He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots.
- Isa 30:24The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that till the ground will eat savory feed, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 45:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.